EOC Exercise Chapter 2

EOC Discussion Questions Chapter 2

1. How has fashion advertising changed since the mid – twentieth century? What are some of the differences between ads that appeared before the 1950’s and those from the 1950s, 1960s, and today?

-Before the 1950’s advertising was just about showing your brand name and a product, a simple message that didn’t really say much and was just simply about showing product. After the idea of storytelling was brought about to advertising, the whole industry changed. Brands now try to capture their consumers in a story that is a connection between the brand and an image.

2. What are some of the theories related to fashion branding (i.e., Barthes and Baudillard)? What do they say about fashion branding as a means of communicating with consumers? How do the contemporary ideas of Hamilton, DeBord, Agins, Gobe, and McCracken relate to those of Barthes and Baudrillard?

-Baudrillard says that there are four stages to an advertisement, he says that the fourth stage which is hyperreality is the most effective, it gets the consumer to believe that the message the ad is trying to relay is real. Such as airbrushed models in magazines. From Baudrillard to the more contemporary theorists of advertising, I think they were all on the same page. The most important thing is to capture your audiences emotion by creating a reality for the consumer, the only retailers and designers that will survive, are the ones that know how to brand themselves.

3. What types of meanings does Grant McCracken associate with fashion products? Do you agree or disagree? If you disagree, what would you add to or delete from his list? Give an example of one of the meanings.

Gender, lifestyle, decade, age, class and status, occupation, time and place, value, and fad, fashion, and trend meanings. I agree with all of these meanings, each one of these contributes to the why in the consumers mind.

Exercise Chapter 1

I found an advertisement by Sisley that shows two models doing what is suppose to resemble cocaine but in fact a camisole, on the advertisement is says fashion junkie. This resembles the social climate of our time; fifteen to twenty years ago an ad like this wouldn’t have been acceptable. Now, this is a topic of the American culture and the Sisley ad seems to very strategically and metaphorically poke fun at it.

Discussion Questions Chapter 1

1.Fashion branding is where everyone responsible for selling fashion creates campaigns and gives fashion garments a unique identity, it’s also the planned out process of storytelling. Branding is a cumulative image of how a product or service that consumers associate with a specific brand and also a competitive strategy. You can create an image for a brand by advertising, promotions of campaigns and/or products.
2.By creating a luxurious image around a brand, a company can put their logo on almost anything and sell it at a high price just because of that logo. One product I can think of that some luxury retailers sell at a high price that unless it was made by that brand it would be thought of boring is key chains. When I worked at Louis Vuitton we had key chains that we sold for almost $200.00.
3.

Slip Slop Slap

Slip on a shirt, slop on some sunscreen, and slap on a hat is what Australian’s Cancer Society named their campaign when they declared war on skin cancer in 1981. This campaigned penetrated many Australian families, but didn’t stop there. Several American and British publications preached about Slip, Slap, Slop and soon threw their own spins on the phrase.

“To help remember how to be sun safe, the American Cancer Society has a fun catch phrase: Slip! Slop! Slap! ... and Wrap!: slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen, slap on a hat, wrap on sunglasses to protect the eyes and sensitive skin around them.”[1]

The campaign especially hit home for many Americans & Australians, the culture in these countries is to have family time outside, where everyone can have fun. Sunburns are taken very lightly with many people but they were uneducated on how sunburns or even just exposure to the sun can cause long-term problems.

“Unprotected exposure to the sun while children are outside playing during the summer months may result in sunburn, permanent damage to the skin, and increase the risk of developing skin cancer.[2]”

Although, there has been a negative side that has come out of launching this worldwide campaign. It is known that unless you get enough time in the sun, soon you will become vitamin D deficient.

“A quarter of a century after the Slip, Slop, Slap skin-cancer campaign was launched, several prominent endocrinologists, orthopedic specialists and other experts say the message to cover up has led to vitamin D deficiencies in between 30% and 70% of the population.”[3]

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[1] http://www.durangoherald.com/sections/Features/Columnists/Creating_Community/2010/07/07/Slip_Slop_Slap__and_Wrap_your_skin/

[2] http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/News/Slip-Slap-Slop-The-happy-sounds-of-summer.aspx?articleID=8209&categoryID=news-poh2

[3] http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/12/08/1196813083745.html